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Pine Hearts is one of those rare wholesome, cozy games that doesn’t try to use an emotional overlay to hide gameplay that’s not very fun when you get down to it – it’s got an emotional core underneath a game that’s fun to play.
It has plenty of flaws that are very easy to see, and I’m sure those will frustrate lots of people. But at the same time, these games are classics for a reason, and even if the experience isn’t wholly perfect, the package is still enjoyable enough that it’s sure to please pretty much everyone who plays it.
I genuinely believe that Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is a phenomenal start to a new story, and that I am very excited to see where the dev team takes us next in the post-expansion patch content. From adding in more EX trials for mounts, new dungeons, raids and more, Final Fantasy XIV fans are feasting with yet more great content from Yoshida-san and the rest of his team.
If you’re a fan of Portal-style puzzlers, you should buy it.
Corsair’s Madness won’t make you forget about classics from the NES era, but it’s fun enough that you could easily imagine playing right alongside them.
It’s a cozy game that realizes a sickly sweet veneer isn’t enough to draw people in, you also need to provide solid gameplay – and that’s something this game delivers. You’ll have to have a high tolerance for cutesiness, to be sure, but in the end, it’s worth it.
Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom isn’t the first game that tries so hard to be wacky, nor would I begrudge developers who want a game that’s popular among streamers. But I can’t say that the end result is all that fun – not when there are all kinds of genuinely good modern 3D platformers out there that don’t rely nearly as much on silly gimmicks.
While no one would confuse it for a GOTY contender or anything, it’s still a solid riding simulator with a decent amount of content. Given how bad it could’ve been, that seems like a win.
Games that rely heavily on nostalgia walk a fine line. Done the right way, they evoke games from yesteryear while also adding their own spin; done poorly, and they make you wish you were playing those other games instead. Frogun Encore, unfortunately, falls into this latter category.
As Metroidvanias go, it’s fine, but if you want anything more than just average, you’re not going to find it here.
Even if it was outshined by its successor, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is still worth your time. It may not be the GOTY contender that Luigi’s Mansion 3 was, but if you give it a chance, you’ll still find it worth your while.
Crow Country is clearly influenced by some of the scariest games of the ‘90s, but it’s good enough that it can be enjoyed today even if you never played those games the first time around (or even if you’re generally too much of a scaredy cat to play them).
Overall, I enjoyed Puppet Combo’s latest horror installment. It started slowly, then escalated to full nonstop combat.
It has some amazing visuals, great animation, a whole host of charming characters, and some inventive combat mechanics that come together in a final package that I’d certainly recommend to just about anyone.
There’s a very easy way to tell if Dread Delusion will appeal to you. Does the phrase, “Like a trippy, PS1 version of Morrowind” make your heart all a-flutter? Then you need to play Dread Delusion. Immediately.
All-in-all, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is a great time, albeit held back by the same lackluster camera the series has always had and the framerate causing some issues, but otherwise it’s a very solid title.
Bang Average Football is a game that deserves having people play game after game after game. Not only does it perfectly nail the feeling of playing sports games back in their infancy, it also adds a cozy, Stardew Valley-style frame around the whole thing that you’ll want to do even if you don’t usually like those kinds of sims. It’s an excellent game all-around that does a whole lot of things right.
Check it out if you’re looking to scratch that Dead Cells itch right now, or give it a few months and see where things land by then, either way I think you’ll enjoy what The Rogue Prince of Persia is shaping up to be.
Shadow of the Erdtree is another perfect culmination of everything that has come before it, which at this point seems to just be the norm for From Software. Some of the greatest moments in all of Souls are found within Shadow of the Erdtree, but it will make you work harder for them than ever before. Exploration and curiosity are the key, and you will be rewarded in ways that you cannot imagine as you delve into the Shadow Realm introduced here. I adored Shadow of the Erdtree, and cannot wait for more people to experience what has so thoroughly blown me away in my time with it.
Seeing as I still have fond memories of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture nearly a decade after I played it, I’ve been eager to see The Chinese Room return to this style of game – and I’m very pleased to see that with Still Wakes the Deep, their return is a huge success